


Thunderstorm

by tikkikwami



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast), The Adventure Zone: Amnesty (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Trans Duck Newton, cw: fear of thunder and lightning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 04:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19899670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikkikwami/pseuds/tikkikwami
Summary: Indrid's afraid of the storm, so Duck invites him over to cheer him up.





	Thunderstorm

Indrid shivered in his bed, a blanket wrapped tightly around him. He wasn’t cold, but rather afraid. Every time the thunder boomed, he closed his eyes tightly and felt his heart skip a beat. The thunderstorm was raging outside, and he was huddled in his winnebago, hoping with every moment that it would come to an end. 

And then his phone rang. His visions told him it was Duck on the other end of the line, and to be honest, that was the only person that he would have gotten out of bed for. So he went to the phone and picked it up after only two rings. “Hello, Duck.” 

“Hi, Indrid,” the pleasantly deep voice on the other end of the phone said. “How’re you doin’?” 

Just then, there was a crack of lightning, and Indrid jumped. He almost dropped the phone. As it was, he squeaked in surprise. “U-um, not so great,” he replied. “I’m not- I’m not super into storms.” He gritted his teeth as there was another peal of thunder. 

“You want company? You could come over an’ I’ll make you hot cocoa,” Duck said, his voice taking on a soothing lilt. 

Surprisingly, Indrid found himself agreeing. “Okay. Would you mind picking me up?” 

“Not a problem. I’ll see you soon,” Duck said, hanging up. 

Indrid got dressed in day clothes instead of pajamas and wrapped his blanket back around his shoulders. He resolved to bring it with him to Duck’s as a comfort item.

*

After only a few minutes, he saw that Duck was pulling up close to his winnebago so he wouldn’t have to walk far in the rain. He dashed to the passenger side door and hopped in the seat, closing the car door quickly behind him. “Y’alright?” Duck asked, grinning. 

“I think my blanket got a little wet,” Indrid complained. When thunder boomed overhead, he froze in his seat, eyes wide. 

Then he felt Duck’s hand on his shoulder, rubbing it soothingly, and he felt some of his anxiety ease. “We can put it in the dryer when we get to my place,” Duck offered, putting the car in gear. Indrid nodded. 

*

When they got to Duck’s, they ran inside. Duck chuckled as he took off his raincoat, hanging it on the coatrack. “Let’s get your blanket in the dryer, yeah?” 

“Okay,” Indrid agreed, taking it off from around his shoulders and handing it to Duck. 

He put it in the dryer for the ten minute setting, and then he retrieved a second blanket from his room for Indrid to use in the meantime. When Indrid was nervous, he liked to have a blanket to wrap tightly around him as a pressure stim. Duck knew this, and draped it over his shoulders for him. “Cocoa?” 

“Yes, please,” Indrid said with a smile. But thunder cracked again, and he felt himself shudder with nervousness. 

Duck put a saucepan on the stove and poured milk into it to heat up. “You know, I used to be afraid of storms, too.” 

“Yeah?” Indrid leaned against the kitchen counter next to Duck. 

Duck nodded as he got some chocolate, cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla, and salt from the cabinets. “It got better as I got older, but yeah. The unpredictability isn’t so good, hm?” 

“It doesn’t even matter if I know when the thunder and lightning happens with my visions,” Indrid admitted. “I just don’t like it regardless. It’s a moth person thing.” 

“Oh?” Duck asked, adding ingredients to the simmering milk. 

“I guess it’s meant to deter us from flying in storms,” Indrid mused. “If we’re scared to go outside in a storm, we won’t get hit by lightning.” 

“That tracks,” Duck said. He stirred the cocoa as the ingredients slowly melded together. 

When another boom of thunder happened, Indrid whimpered quietly, huddling inward on himself. Then he felt Duck wrap his arms around him, and he leaned his cheek on the top of Duck’s head, appreciative of the comforting contact. When he felt calm enough, he said, “Thanks.” 

“It’s, uh, it’s no problem,” Duck said, stepping back. Indrid smiled, seeing the light blush on his cheeks. 

Soon the hot cocoa was done. They both got a mug of it and sat on the sofa beside each other. Duck retrieved Indrid’s blanket from the dryer and smiled as he wrapped it tightly around himself, with only his face sticking out from the blanket. It was warm and he was finally starting to feel at peace.

“Can we just sit here for awhile?” Indrid asked, taking a sip of his cocoa. He kept his eyes on the ground. “I don’t really… want to do anything other than talk.” 

“That’s fine,” Duck told him. “We jus’ need to focus on makin’ you feel safe, yeah?” Indrid nodded and shivered as lightning lit up the windows. “You wanna tell me about your visions?” 

It was a good distraction, and Duck knew that. “Um. It’s… there’s going to be a storm until the morning. Barclay’s about to burn some muffins. Dr. Harris Bonkers chewed a hole in Stern’s sock again.” Duck chuckled, listening attentively. “Stern isn’t able to be mad at him. He’s just going to end up buying more socks and hoping the bunny stays away.” 

“The dreaded bunny,” Duck said, grinning. Indrid giggled. “What else do you see?” 

Indrid finished his cocoa, setting the mug aside. “Leo is getting home late. He has to drive slowly to be safe, but he’ll make it home okay.” 

“It’s kinda cool how you can check up on everybody like that,” Duck mused. Indrid jumped, startled, at a particularly loud thunderclap. “Hey, this’s gonna sound silly, but it’s what my ma always did when I got scared as a kid. You wanna lay with your head in my lap?”

“Okay,” Indrid said quietly. He let the blanket fall to his shoulders instead of covering his head and curled up on his side on the sofa, leaning his head on Duck’s thigh. The contact was grounding. 

Especially when he felt a warm hand lightly brush his hair out of his face. “Tell me ‘bout your drawin’s,” Duck said, gently running his fingertips through Indrid’s hair. 

Indrid felt a blush rise to his cheeks, thinking of the drawings of him and Duck together he’d done earlier that day. There was a sketch of Duck hugging him in the kitchen, and another of them holding hands, and another of Indrid leaning his head on Duck’s shoulder. They weren’t necessarily important futures in the grand scheme of things, but they were important to Indrid. So he drew them and hid them under his bed.

Instead, he described what he’d drawn the day before. “I drew the Greenbriar River, focusing on its animals. Deer, birds, that sort of thing.” He felt his eyes flutter shut as Duck stroked his hair, and he let out a comfortable sigh. “The whitetail bucks are nearly done growing their antlers.” 

“That sounds about right,” Duck responded. When the thunder cracked again, it didn’t startle Indrid as much this time, especially with Duck’s fingers gently running over the nape of his neck. 

“You were right. This is nice,” Indrid said softly, pulling the blanket more tightly around himself. “Thank you.” 

“‘Course,” Duck replied. 

Indrid felt himself smiling. He was getting a little sleepy from how relaxed the petting made him feel. “You make me feel safe,” he sighed happily. 

Duck’s fingers stilled in his hair for a moment before resuming their stroking. “Uh, I’m glad,” he mumbled. 

Indrid looked over his visions calmly, noticing that a lot of them had changed in the past few minutes. They were of him and Duck, but in a lot of the futures, they weren’t just hanging out. They were kissing. 

Indrid rolled onto his back, his head still resting on Duck’s thigh. He looked up at the ranger, studying his face. “The futures just got a whole lot more interesting,” he teased. Duck’s face flushed a lovely shade of red. “Considering your options, Duck?” 

“Uh, I mean, y’could call it that, I guess,” Duck said, not meeting Indrid’s eyes. 

Indrid took his hand in his own and pulled it to his lips, pressing a kiss to Duck’s knuckles. “I would never reject you. You know that.” 

“I know,” Duck whispered, looking down at him fondly. “I just- I just get nervous.” 

Giggling, Indrid sat up. He leaned his head on Duck’s shoulder, just like in his drawing. “This isn’t the first time the futures looked like this. The past several times we hung out, at least half the futures showed us kissing.” 

Duck grinned, his blush returning in full force. “Why haven’t you said anything?” 

Indrid leaned in, brushing his nose against Duck’s. “Because you haven’t said anything, either.” 

“Well, lemme say something now,” Duck said, pressing a kiss to Indrid’s lips. “I really like you, Indrid.”

Indrid pulled back, grinning. “I really like you, too.” Then a peal of thunder boomed overhead, and he jumped, startled. 

“C’mere,” Duck said, arms wide open. 

Gratefully, Indrid sank into his arms, happy to be held close. “The noise just surprises me every time,” he complained. 

“Don’t mean to sound selfish, but if it means I get to hold y’like this, I don’t mind the thunder,” Duck said thoughtfully. He chuckled as Indrid gave him side-eye. “You know I’m teasin’.”

“I know,” Indrid mumbled, hiding his face in Duck’s neck. He wasn’t sure he’d ever felt so safe. “Can we stay like this awhile?” 

“‘Course, darlin’,” Duck said. The pet name made Indrid’s heart grow warm. ‘ _Darlin’_ ’. He liked the sound of that. “D’you wanna stay the night?” 

“If you make more cocoa,” Indrid said jokingly, and Duck laughed quietly. “But sure. I’d love to.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make my day!


End file.
